Tuesday, 27 January 2015

52 Original Wisdom Stories ~ a new book

I’ve
been waiting to tell you about this book, dears. It’s what I was working on
through last year.

The
title is 52 Original Wisdom Stories, and it's on pre-order on English Amazon at the moment, and will be on pre-order on US Amazon soon.

You
might know my book of 100 Stand-Alone Bible Studies (and here on US Amazon) I wrote that because I
couldn’t find anything quite like it for my own Bible study groups. There’s so
much excellent material, but I always used to hit two particular problems with
it. Most Bible studies have ice-breakers, a study passage to read, then
questions on it, then life application suggestions. They top and tail that with
chatting time at the beginning and prayer time at the end. My problems were
always that there was too much material to cram into an evening unless the
leader was quite assertive about hurrying people along from one exercise to the
next, and that very often the questions were ones with a right/wrong answer.

I
wanted to create study material that gave people space to really get into
discussion without being told to stop and think about something different, and
that had genuinely open questions that didn’t make people feel small or afraid
because of the risk of being wrong. So my 100 Stand-Alone Bible Studies (UK, here) have a
minimalist outline – just a study passage, a short commentary, three questions
and a prayer. That means you can relax over your socializing before you begin,
you can take as long as you like praying together at the end, and you can
really get your teeth into the questions – which invite a lot of sharing about
the group members’ own lives and perspectives. There’s also the advantage that
someone with little or no experience in group leadership is given confidence,
because the timing isn’t complicated to manage, you don’t need special
interrupting and shutting-up skills, but everything you need (the words of the
Bible passage and the prayer, the commentary and the questions) has been
provided.

And
as they are (as it says on the tin) stand-alone studies, they are perfect for
filling in when a series has finished but you still have a week or two to go,
or if you meant to prepare something but forgot. Though it’s not hard to make a
series from the studies if you want to, as they are grouped in categories.

When
I was writing it, to be sure that the structure I devised worked as intended, I
sent out, to any group leaders who asked, a selection of their choice to try
out with their group and let me know how they got on.

That
book has proved very popular, and is going well.

So
this new book is a kind of companion volume. The 100 Stand-Alone Bible Studies can
be used for personal devotions as well as group work – and this new one is good
for both as well.

It's also in the same vein as my Lent book, The Wilderness Within You (title linked to UK Amazon, picture linked to US Amazon), in that it's in dialogue/story format - though The Wilderness Within You was dialogues with Jesus, all on Lent themes.

This
new one, the 52 Original Wisdom Stories, explores the cycle of the church year. This will be very
familiar to some of you – it starts at the end of November or beginning of
December with Advent, then come Christmas, Lent, Easter, Pentecost, Trinity,
then lots of Sundays of Ordinary time through Harvest and finishing up with All
Saints and the Feast of Christ the King. But in the course of the year there
are numerous saints’ days, and also special days like Ascension and Corpus Christi.

This
book travels through the church year, with 52 seasonally appropriate pieces
(so, one a week, plus a foreword and a special appendix). There are pieces about some of the most beloved saints, and
in the stretches of Ordinary Time there are pieces that explore all sorts of
questions and challenges belonging to life and faith.

Then,
there’s an extra thing. Long ago, before the Roman form of Christianity was
adopted in Great Britain, the church observed the forms of Celtic Christianity
– our first evangelists were Celtic monks from Ireland via Scotland. Hardy
people who lived simply, they penetrated some wilder parts of the British Isles
that Augustine never reached. In their evangelizing, they worked with the old
pre-Christian Celtic observances – natural folk religion based on the
agricultural year. Rather than antagonizing the old ways, they developed connections and resonances with the Christian gospel.

So
in this new book I’ve also included the old Celtic rhythm of faith, the ancient
quarter-days following the equinoxes and solstices, and the cross-quarter-days
that came halfway between.

The
format of the book is based on a relationship between a married couple of early
retirement age – Sid and Rosie. Each piece is a snapshot of their life and
conversations together. They have both been married before, and come from
different Christian backgrounds. Life has knocked them both around a bit, and
caused them to do much soul-searching.

After
each piece, three questions and a prayer are included. The material is of
itself intended to provoke thought and discussion, but the questions are there
to give further help.

Each
piece is of such a length that it could be read aloud as the devotional input
for a home-group or midweek church group meeting – or used in place of a sermon
in a small church or at and evening service, where regular preaching may not be
the standard pattern.

The
book comes out this summer, and as before, I would like to offer you the
opportunity to try out one or two of the pieces with your group, and see how
you get on. I’ll list the contents at the end of this post. If you send me a
comment with your email address and your choice of up to three pieces, I’ll
email you PDFs of the ones you’ve chosen, and the foreword that explains the book.

Please
be aware that I can only publish or delete comments that come in to me – I cannot
edit, or publish just part of what you say. So if you have a general comment to
make, send me that, and then send a second
comment with your email address and choice of pieces to try out.

Hi again Pen, I'm just reading for the third time The Road of Blessing and am again finding it's just what I need at this point in my life. The Wilderness Within is one I have actually bought for others to read as it made me feel as if I was walking right there with you and Jesus. Whilst your writing is quite challenging to me, I love the way it makes me feel as if we are sitting together having a real discussion and somehow you give me room to put my own thoughts into your writings, hence I have underlined many parts. I can't say I have ever found that with any other authors. I am looking forward to this next book.Blessings Gail

Thank you for the chapters, Pen. I’ve used the Holy Family one already! (this evening, with my 10 y.o. boy and nearly 12 y.o. girl, during the little ‘devotional’ time I try to spend with them daily). It worked wonderfully; there was great discussion and relevant prayer. I really enjoyed your thoughts in the Foreword as well, for many reasons (trying, with mixed success, not to be one of the 'Dones' but knowing many who walk with the Lord yet are done with the church, being a divorced and remarried Christian, trying to be careful towards the environment/Creation, knowing that the face of the church seems to be changing... your materials are bound to be relevant to many of us, Pen).

Thank you so much for your enquiry. I have deleted it rather than publish it here, as it contained your personal contact details. I've sent your message along to my publisher, who has forwarded it to the department dealing with such requests for review copies. I hope you may hear from them shortly.God bless you, and thank you for contacting me.

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An Inspiration

‘Let us pass through your country. We will stay on the main road; we will not turn aside to the right or to the left. Sell us food to eat and water to drink for their price in silver. Only let us pass through on foot until we cross the Jordan into the land the Lord our God is giving us.’

(Deuteronomy 2.27-28, 29b NIV UK)

To get in touch with Pen Wilcock

If you would like to communicate with me personally, you can do so by leaving a comment on this blog giving your email address. I will delete the comment (I will never publish a comment containing your contact details) and get in touch with you so you then have my email address.

All comments left here come to me at my regular email address, and I read each one before publishing it; there is no danger of a private message being published by an automated system.

Don't worry if you don't hear straight away after sending a comment. I check my emails most days as I'm online researching as I write books, but I do go away sometimes!

God bless you. I will have prayed for you if you read here, even if I do not know your name. May you walk in the way of blessing. May the light of Christ be your joy and your guide.

Pen

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This is good for groups or personal devotions

A Lent book

Online reviewer from CLC bookshops says: 'This is perhaps the most “off the wall “ Lent book I have seen for awhile.'